Olympic Games 2012: Construction

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics whether the £95 million forwarded to the Olympic Delivery Authority in October 2008 from contingency funding related to construction of the Olympic Village was from  (a) the Olympic Delivery Authority programme,  (b) the Funder's Group and  (c) another contingency fund; and if she will make a statement.

Tessa Jowell: holding answer 23 October 2008
	£95 million to fund commencement of construction of the Olympic Village was originally allocated from Funders' Group contingency as an interim measure. The Funders' Group have now confirmed that up to £22 million that has already been spent will be funded from Funders' Group contingency with the balance being funded by the ODA until funding arrangements are further considered, expected to be early in the new year.

Departmental Official Residences

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East of 6 October 2008,  Official Report, column 6W, on departmental official residences, what the cost of refurbishment of his London office was; and what the nature of the work undertaken was.

Paul Murphy: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the answer given to the hon. Member for Upper Bann (David Simpson) on 14 July 2008,  Official Report, column 1W.

Official Hospitality

Pete Wishart: To ask the Prime Minister what Government expenditure on Ministerial hospitality was in the financial years  (a) 2004-05,  (b) 2005-06,  (c) 2006-07 and  (d) 2007-08, expressed in current prices.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the written statement I made on 22 July 2008,  Official Report, columns 108-10WS, and the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Cleethorpes (Shona McIsaac) on 25 July 2007,  Official Report, column 1108W. I also refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my predecessor (right hon. Tony Blair) on 11 October 2006,  Official Report, column 788W, and the answer given by my noble Friend the Lord Bassam of Brighton on 21 July 2005,  Official Report,  House  of Lords, column WA261.
	Expenditure on other ministerial hospitality is a matter for the relevant Department.

Departmental Procurement

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proportion of invoices for goods and services procured from small and medium-sized businesses were paid within 30 days of receipt by  (a) his Department and  (b) the agencies for which his Department is responsible in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office (NIO), including its agencies, seeks to comply with 'The Better Payments Practice Code' for achieving good payment performance in commercial transactions. Under this code, the policy is to pay bills in accordance with contractual conditions or, where no such conditions exist, within 30 days of receipt of goods and services or the presentation of a valid invoice, whichever is later.
	The prompt payment results for 2007-08 showed that 91.6 per cent. of departmental and agency invoices were paid in accordance with the terms of the standard, this can be broken down as follows:
	
		
			  Body  Paid on time  (Percentage) 
			 Northern Ireland Office 89.9 
			 Northern Ireland Prison Service 92.6 
			 Forensic Science Northern Ireland 96.1 
			 Youth Justice Agency 95.0 
			 Compensation Agency 98.6 
		
	
	Any analysis relating to the size of the business can be completed only at disproportionate cost.

Mentally Ill Staff

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information his Department has gathered on the effect of its policies and practices on the recruitment, development and retention of employees with mental illnesses within his Department; and what use has been made of that information.

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information his Department has gathered on the effect of its policies and practices on the recruitment, development and retention of employees with mental illnesses within his Department.

Paul Goggins: In Northern Ireland, section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 ensures that equality issues, including disability, are integral to the whole range of public policy decision making. Public authorities such as the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) are required to submit equality schemes to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.
	Section 49A of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA 1995) (as amended by article 5 of the Disability Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 2006), which came into force on 1 January 2007, introduced the 'disability duties' in Northern Ireland to reflect changes to disability legislation in Great Britain.
	Under section 49B of the DDA 1995, the NIO is required to submit a disability action plan to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland. This plan sets out how it proposes to fulfil the disability duties in relation to its functions and monitor and report on progress.
	The NIO is committed to a series of actions which we believe will help remove the attitudinal and environmental barriers experienced by many disabled people. The plan focuses on a number of key areas to help secure improvements: employment; accessibility; communication; and public appointments.
	Employee engagement is key to the NIO's Development and Health and Well Being Strategy and a crucial factor in motivating and retaining our employees.
	Since April we have arranged a number of seminars and events which has raised employee awareness of physical and mental health issues and health related articles are published on the NIO's internal intranet.
	In recognising that stress can lead to mental illness we have in place policies on the prevention, recognition and management of stress at work and are currently delivering a "Managing Stress" course mandated for all managers.
	The NIO also provides staff with the opportunity to attend the Occupational Health Service, to seek support from the Welfare Support Service or through an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). The EAP is complimentary to the Welfare Support Service and provides an independent, confidential and professional counselling support service for all staff and their immediate family members. These services are available to all staff, and have benefited and assisted those who are absent because of sickness to return to work, and those who are in work to remain in work.
	Those public sector bodies which are sponsored by my department but are separately designated with respect to section 75 are responsible for publishing and implementing their own disability action plans.

Biofuels

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 15 October 2008,  Official Report, column 46WS, on the post-Gallagher update, what assessment he has made of the effect of slowing down the rate of increase of the renewable transport fuel obligation on levels of investment in sustainable biofuel production in  (a) the UK,  (b) the EU and  (c) other countries and regions.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government are currently consulting on proposals to slow down the rate of increase of obligation levels under the renewable transport fuel obligation. The impact assessment which accompanies the consultation examines the potential effects on investment in biofuel production in the UK only.
	This assessment concluded that a slowdown, together with future European targets for biofuels, should still give an incentive to the biofuels industry to invest in new technology and domestic capacity. A 5 per cent. biofuel obligation is still proposed in 2013-14 rather than 2010-11 and the final level of investment in sustainable production is not expected to be significantly effected. However there may be differences in the short to medium term in how fuel suppliers meet the obligation.(1)
	The views of consultees on the impact assessment and estimates of the effects on investment of the proposed slow down shall be taken into account by the Government.
	(1) Source:
	Consultation on the Draft Renewable Transport Fuel Obligations, (Amendment) Order 2009, Annex D Impact Assessment; page 71.

Railways: Overcrowding

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if his Department will gather information on levels of overcrowding on trains in  (a) Hertfordshire and  (b) England.

Paul Clark: The information requested is currently published annually in aggregated form by the Office for Rail Regulation within its "National Rail Trends Yearbook" and is available on the ORR website. The latest published data relates to passenger counts carried out by train operators in autumn 2006.

Railways: Standards

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the minimum statutory space requirement for each rail passenger is; and what estimate his Department has made of how often these space requirements are met.

Paul Clark: Rail statistics are published by the Office of Rail Regulation. The latest data available are for 2006 and is published in the National Rail Trends Year Book for 2006-07, which is available in the Library of the House. The published crowding measure (which was first used by the Office for Passenger Rail Franchising in 2000) is based on an assumed standing room of 0.45 metres per standing passenger.
	There are two specific variations to the published measure: Class 376 trains, operating on Southeastern services; and for services operated by Stagecoach South West Trains to and from London Waterloo.
	New (Class 376) purpose-built vehicles ordered for Southeastern are configured to serve short-distance Metro passenger flows, and the stock has been specifically configured with low density seating and appropriate grab rails for standing passengers, to ensure that passengers can stand in relative comfort for short-distance journeys; the same is true for Class 455 units operated by Stagecoach South West Trains, on services that stop within 20 minutes of leaving London Waterloo. In these cases the standard is varied to 0.35 and 0.25 square metres respectively.

Alcoholic Drinks: Young People

Don Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were prosecuted for supplying alcohol to people under the age of 18 years in Islwyn constituency in each of the last five years.

Alan Campbell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 10 June 2008,  Official Report, column 18W.
	Information held on the court proceedings database cannot be broken down by constituency.

Asylum

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her most recent estimate is of the number of unsuccessful asylum seekers who are in the United Kingdom without leave to remain.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 27 October 2008
	No government has ever been able to produce an accurate figure for the number of people who are in the country illegally and this includes failed asylum seekers. By its very nature it is impossible to quantify accurately and that remains the case.
	As part of the Government's 10-point plan for delivery, by December 2008 the majority of foreign nationals will be counted in and out of the country. This is part of a sweeping programme of border protection which also includes the global roll-out of fingerprint visas, compulsory watch-list checks for all travellers from high-risk countries before they land in Britain and ID cards for foreign nationals.
	On 19 June 2008, the Government set out its plans to more robustly enforce the immigration rules including the removal of those not entitled to be here. Copies of the document are placed in the Library of the House. It is also available to view at:
	http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/?requestType=form&vie w=Search+results&simpleOrAdvanced=simple&page=1&content Type=AII&searchTerm=enforcing+the+deal&Submit=Go

Asylum: Iraq

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications from Iraqis under the  (a) Locally Employed Staff Assistance Scheme for resettlement in the UK and  (b) Gateway Refugee Protection programme are awaiting evaluation.

Phil Woolas: Under the locally engaged staff assistance scheme UKBA can receive applications from current staff seeking entry under the direct entry scheme or the Gateway Protection programme and applications from former staff seeking entry under the Gateway Protection programme.
	 (a) Seven applications from current staff, are awaiting evaluation under the direct entry scheme. There are no applications from current staff awaiting evaluation under the Gateway Protection programme.
	 (b) The Gateway Protection programme is wider than the locally engaged staff assistance scheme. Under Gateway 102 applications from former Iraqi staff are awaiting evaluation and a further 58 from Iraqi nationals who are not nor have ever been employed by HMG. This includes all applications where a final decision in accordance with the Gateway policy has yet to be made.

Borders: Personal Records

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department has spent on consultancy fees related to the e-borders project.

Phil Woolas: The e-Borders programme has spent £36 million on consultancy fees since the inception of the pilot project for e-Borders in 2004.
	Prior to contract award the expenditure on procurement was £31.4 million, and on Project Semaphore was an additional £4.6 million. Post contract award (14 November 2007) the cost of consultancy services has been substantially reduced to just £1 million.

Crimes of Violence

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of violence against the person were recorded  (a) in total and  (b) per 1,000 of the population for (i) England, (ii) the Avon and Somerset Constabulary area and (iii) Bath and North East Somerset in each year from 1997 to 2008.

Alan Campbell: The available information is given in the following tables. Bath and North East Somerset is a Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership CDRP) area. Data for violence against the person at CDRP level are only available from 1999-2000 onwards.
	
		
			  Table 1: Offences of violence against the person recorded by the police—1997 
			  Number of offences 
			  Area  Number of offences  Rate per 1,000 population 
			 England 233,441 5 
			 Avon and Somerset 9,614 7 
			 Bath and North East Somerset n/a n/a 
			 n/a = Not available 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Offences of violence against the person recorded by the police—1998-99 to 2001-02 
			  Number of offences 
			  Area  England  Avon and Somerset  Bath and North East Somerset 
			  1998-99
			 Number of offences 470,689 12,333 n/a 
			 Rate per 1,000 population 10 8 n/a 
			 
			  1999-2000
			 Number of offences 543,114 12,921 1,108 
			 Rate per 1,000 population 11 9 7 
			 
			  2000-01
			 Number of offences 562,679 15,376 1,198 
			 Rate per 1,000 population 11 10 7 
			 
			  2001-02
			 Number of offences 613,869 17,686 1,640 
			 Rate per 1,000 population 12 12 10 
			 n/a = Not available  Notes: 1. The coverage was extended and counting rules revised from 1998-99. Figures from that date are not directly comparable with those for 1997. 2. The data in this table are prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard. These figures are not directly comparable with those for later years. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Offences of violence against the person recorded by the police—2002-03 to 2007-08 
			  Number of offences 
			  Area  England  Avon and Somerset  Bath and North East Somerset 
			  2002-03
			 Number of offences 781,768 20,739 1,544 
			 Rate per 1,000 population 16 14 9 
			 
			  2003-04
			 Number of offences 902,732 26,530 2,000 
			 Rate per 1,000 population 18 18 12 
			 
			  2004-05
			 Number of offences 981,646 31,462 2,685 
			 Rate per 1,000 population 20 21 16 
			 
			  2005-06
			 Number of offences 992,612 30,496 2,877 
			 Rate per 1,000 population 20 20 17 
			 
			  2006-07
			 Number of offences 976,369 30,881 3,000 
			 Rate per 1,000 population 19 20 17 
			 
			  2007-08
			 Number of offences 896,287 27,147 2,857 
			 Rate per 1,000 population 18 17 16 
			  Note: The data in this table take account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years.

Departmental Information Officers

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many press and communications officers are employed by  (a) her Department,  (b) its non-departmental public bodies and  (c) its agencies.

Phil Woolas: Press and Communications Officers in the Home Office are employed at the Senior Information, Information and Assistant Information Officer grades. The following table gives details of the staff currently employed by the Department and its Agencies in these grades.
	
		
			   Press Officers  Communication Officers  Total 
			 Home Office 32 21 53 
			 UKBA 6 23 29 
			 Total 38 44 82 
		
	
	Other specialist and generalist staff across the organisation may have communications as a core part of their role, as good communication is integral to helping implement government policy. However information on the numbers of staff in this category is not held centrally and could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
	Also data on staff employed by non departmental public bodies is not held centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.

Genetics: Databases

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which private firms have successfully applied to use the national DNA database to help them develop computer programmes.

Alan Campbell: LGC and Cellmark have successfully applied for use of information from for the national DNA database (NDNAD), to develop computer software to enhance use of the NDNAD and thus allow more suspects to be identified. Requests for the release of information must be approved by the NDNAD Strategy Board. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 lays down that DNA samples and the profiles derived from them can only be used for the purposes of prevention and detection of crime, the investigation of an offence, the conduct of a prosecution or, since April 2005, for the purposes of identifying a deceased person. In accordance with this, no information has been supplied to private firms to assist with the development of software for any other purpose. The information supplied from the NDNAD was anonymised, that is, no details that would enable individuals to be identified were supplied to the private companies.

Members: Correspondence

Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  when she expects the Minister for Immigration to reply to the letter of 5 February 2008 from the hon. Member for Rossendale and Darwen on meeting the hon. Member and the hon. Member for Hyndburn to discuss the case of ASO Mohammed Ibrahim;
	(2)  when she will answer the Question tabled on 28 February 2008 by the hon. Member for Rossendale and Darwen on the case of Aso Mohammed Ibrahim; and what the reasons are for the time taken to provide a reply.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 1 May 2008
	 A response was sent to the hon. Member on 8 September 2008.

Police: Licensed Premises

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her Department's policy is on licensed premises which open late being required to make a contribution to costs of policing those premises; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: holding answer 27 October 2008
	A licensed premise which is open 'late' is not necessarily a problem premise. If a licensed premise is found to be breaching one of the four licensing objectives, then it may be reviewed (following application by a responsible authority such as the police, or an interested party such as a local resident) and conditions may be applied to solve the problem. The premises may also have its licensable activities curtailed if this is deemed necessary e.g. a reduction in hours for the sale of alcohol or, in more serious cases, suspension or revocation of the licence.
	However, the Government introduced Alcohol Disorder Zones (ADZs) in the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006, and the powers were commenced in June 2008. ADZs provide police and local authorities with a measure of last resort for tackling high levels of alcohol related nuisance or disorder in parts of town and city centres where all other voluntary and statutory approaches have been exhausted.
	ADZs are designed to allow police and local authorities to agree and implement an action plan with licensees in a designated area, subject to consultation, to tackle alcohol related crime and disorder linked to the misuse of alcohol in the public space. If the action plan is not implemented, charges can be levied for specified enforcement activity by statutory agencies including the police.

Serious Organised Crime Agency: Drug Seizures

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drugs seizures have been made by officers at the Serious and Organised Crime Agency in each of the last two years.

Alan Campbell: The data below relate to individual seizures of Class A, B and C drugs, cutting agents and drugs precursor chemicals. If two different commodities are seized at the same time, that counts as two seizures.
	SOCA has no powers itself to seize drugs outside the UK, therefore interdictions overseas involve SOCA providing key intelligence and/or operational support to others, not undertaking the physical act itself. At home, SOCA works collaboratively with UK police forces, HMRC and the UK Border Agency. Decisions on the interdiction phases of such joint operational activity are made according to local or operational imperatives, including protecting the use of sensitive intelligence sources.
	
		
			  Seizures in SOCA operations 
			   UK  Abroad/at sea 
			 2007-08 186 360 
			 2008-09(1) 91 198 
			 (1) To 30 September 2008

Serious Organised Crime Agency: Finance

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the budget for the Serious and Organised Crime Agency in 2008-09 is; and what proportion is committed to central administration.

Alan Campbell: In 2008-09, the Home Office near-cash allocation to SOCA is £404.5 million and the near-cash spend on general administration, as opposed to operational services, is £25.5 million (6.3 per cent.).

Serious Organised Crime Agency: Manpower

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people the Serious and Organised Crime Agency employs; and what proportion are engaged in counter-narcotics activities.

Alan Campbell: The number of full-time equivalent staff employed by SOCA at 30 September 2008 was 3,976.
	For 2008-09 the SOCA Board has determined that SOCA should aim to apportion about 43 per cent. of its effort to tackling drug trafficking. As of 30 September 2008 the year to date figure exceeded 46 per cent. In addition, other activities undertaken by SOCA, such as work to tackle criminal finances and support given to partners, are helping to tackle this trade.

Work Permits

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the effect of the introduction of the points-based system on the number of work permits issued to non UK nationals.

Phil Woolas: The Government have conducted detailed impact assessments on the proposals outlined in Statement of Intent on Tier 2 skilled Workers under the Points Based System. Tier 2 will replace the current Work Permit System on 27 November 2008.
	Analysis has shown that had Tier 2 of the Points Based System been in place last year, around 12 per cent. fewer skilled migrants from outside Europe would have been allowed in through the equivalent work permit route.
	Both the Statement of Intent and the Impact Assessment are available on the UK Border Agency website and in the Libraries of both Houses.

Departmental Public Relations

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Devizes of 23 October 2008,  Official Report, column 569W, on departmental public relations, what the purpose was of the communications division contract in 2007-08; and to which organisation the contract was given.

Douglas Alexander: The contract was given to Munro and Forster Communications Ltd, and was for a range of marketing activities aimed at raising awareness among the UK public of the importance of trade and development for reducing poverty.

Rwanda: Overseas Aid

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what measures are in place to ensure that his Department's aid to the Republic of Rwanda is spent on those purposes for which it was intended.

Ivan Lewis: Our aid to the Republic of Rwanda is driven by a bilateral development partnership agreement (MOU). This requires the continuous commitment of the Rwandan government to reducing poverty, honouring international obligations and respecting human rights, and strengthening financial management and accountability. These commitments are monitored closely by staff in-country and any breech could lead to suspension of our programme.
	The majority of our aid in Rwanda is in the form of budget support and we monitor how this is spent in great detail. This involves close examination of both budget allocations and budget execution performance. Budget allocations are approved by budget support donors in advance of the passage of the budget law through the cabinet and parliament which ensures our money is spent on its intended purpose. Additional safeguards are provided by the examination of audited government accounts, and by periodic public expenditure reviews and public expenditure tracking surveys.
	The impact of the resources spent are monitored annually using a broad based common performance assessment framework (CPAF) which has indicators on poverty and development, service delivery, and governance. The CPAF derives its information from surveys and management information systems, and is used by all budget support donors to monitor progress of the implementation of the government of Rwanda's PRSP (the economic development and poverty reduction strategy (EDPRS)).

Housing: Standards

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities she expects will fail to meet the Decent Homes target by 2010; and how many authorities have informed her Department that they are selling council housing in order to raise funding to meet the target.

Iain Wright: Details of when we expect each local authority to deliver decent homes were provided in my answer of 28 October 2008,  Official Report, column 946W.
	Decisions relating to the management of, and investment in, council housing stock are matters entirely for the local authority.
	In 2007-08, of the 218 authorities who still operated a Housing Revenue Account 154 undertook some voluntary sale of dwellings to create a capital receipt. We do not hold any systematic data on how many of these used these receipts to invest in delivering decent homes.
	The only systematic records we hold are where an authority creates a useable capital receipt from the voluntary sale (not a sale through RTB) of dwellings held within the HRA we do not systematically record precisely what they have used the receipt for—however if the authority wishes to retain the full receipt, rather than returning 50 per cent. to the Secretary of State for pooling, the receipt must be invested in either affordable housing or regeneration but this does not necessarily mean it is used to deliver decent homes.
	We do not hold any data on which local authorities are planning to dispose of dwellings in order to create a capital receipt.

Departmental Public Relations

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies spent on each of the external public relations and marketing companies included in the Central Office of Information's Public Relations Framework in each of the last 36 months.

John Hutton: As with all goods and services procured by the MOD, when buying in external public relations and marketing services, robust principles are applied which include securing best value for money; ensuring probity and accountability; enabling competition wherever possible; and ensuring compliance with the relevant provisions of UK and EU law.
	Specifically in relation to external public relations and marketing services, the MOD has made payments to the following company in the Public Relations Framework as follows:
	
		
			  Biss Lancaster 
			   £ 
			 2005-06 120,000 
			 2006-07 500,000 
			 2007-08 200,000 
		
	
	These figures exclude VAT, and are rounded to the nearest £10,000. They reflect transactions made by the MOD's central Financial Management Shared Service Centre, which handles about 95 per cent. of all MOD payments. Payments not included are those which may have been made (a) on behalf of other Government Departments, (b) by the MOD's trading funds (which lie outside the MOD's accounting boundary), (c) locally by the Department, or (d) in relation to collaborative projects where the payments are made through international procurement agencies or overseas governments.

EU Battlegroups: Military Exercises

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many members of 4 Rifles have completed the EU Battlegroup certification process; and  (a) on what date and  (b) at what location the certification exercise took place;
	(2)  how many members of 4 Rifles participated in the Druid's Dance exercise between 28 April and 18 May 2008.

Bob Ainsworth: 607 members of 4 Battalion The Rifles (4 RIFLES) have recently completed the EU Battlegroup certification process. The process comprises of a Unit/Battlegroup combined arms formation exercise (Druid's Dance) which was completed between 1 September and 21 September on Salisbury Plain Training Area and a Unit/Battlegroup validation exercise (FIRST FLIGHT) which was conducted between 30 September and 1 October at the Joint Air Mounting Centre, South Cerney.
	No members of 4 Rifles participated in exercise Druid's Dance between 28 April and 18 May 2008.

Warrior Armoured Vehicle

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many injuries to service personnel have resulted from the Warrior chain gun firing undemanded since 2000.

Bob Ainsworth: There have been four confirmed cases of the Warrior Chain Gun firing un-demanded since 2000. One of these cases resulted in an injury to a serviceman.

Agriculture: Waste Disposal

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the sum received from farmers by the Environment Agency for  (a) disposal of agricultural waste,  (b) groundwater authorisation for disposal of sheep dip and pesticides and  (c) integrated pollution prevention control for pig and poultry units above the specified thresholds in each of the last three years; what estimate he has made of the proportion of farm income paid in such fees in each year; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: The Environment Agency has registered more than 600,000 agricultural waste exemptions at an estimated 91,000 farms which are not subject to a fee.
	Groundwater authorisations relate to agricultural activities such as the disposal of used sheep dip or pesticide washings. The number of authorisations is decreasing due to changes in farmers practice. The Environment Agency received the following in each of the last three years in England:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2006-07 775,387.21 
			 2007-08 733,547.87 
			 2008-09 709,735.73 
		
	
	Intensive livestock installations over the relevant size thresholds were required to apply for permits for the first time in the period December 2006 to February 2007. The majority of these applications were made in 2006-07, but the Environment Agency estimates that 25 per cent. of the applications were late and the application charges paid in 2007-08. Subsistence charges become due when permits have been issued and are charged pro rata for the period of the first financial year after issue.
	Estimated charges for the last three years in England and Wales are as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			   Application fees  Subsistence fees  Total 
			 2006-07 2,500 48,650.86 2,548,650.80 
			 2007-08 850,000 1,098,490.51 2,798,490.51 
			 2008-09(1) 0 2,411,609.15 2,411,609.15 
			 (1) Figures for 2008-09 are to date

Biofuels

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of crops has been used for biofuel production in the last three years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government do not hold data on the percentage of crops used for biofuel production. Professor Gallagher, Chair of the Renewable fuels Agency (RFA), was asked to carry out a review of the wider effects of biofuel production earlier this year. This review refers to a 2008 study by CE Delft which estimated that around 1 per cent. of the total 1,500 million hectares currently estimated to be in use for cropland globally is being used for biofuel production(1).
	Under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation the RFA collects information from biofuel suppliers about feedstocks and land use for biofuels supplied in the UK. It is expected that these data can contribute towards future estimates of crop use for biofuels.
	(1) Source:
	The Gallagher Review of the indirect effects of biofuels production: Page 30.

Bluetongue Disease: Vaccination

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the take-up rate of the BTV8 vaccine has been in the last 12 months.

Jane Kennedy: Vaccination against Bluetongue in England and Wales is voluntary, and delivered through existing veterinary medicine supply chains, an approach agreed with the livestock industry to ensure the simple, rapid roll-out of vaccine to protect animals earlier this year. Because the approach to vaccination is voluntary, no definitive figures can be provided on the numbers of livestock actually vaccinated.
	However, to date, sales data from the supply chain suggests the overall uptake of vaccine across the whole of England is around 60 per cent. Initial vaccine uptake was high—reaching between 80 per cent. and 90 per cent. in the South East and East of England, but uptake in the counties of northern England and in Wales has been lower.

Fly Tipping

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many incidents of fly tipping in  (a) Hemel Hempstead and  (b) Hertfordshire were reported in each of the last five years; and how many people were prosecuted in each year for such offences.

Jane Kennedy: The number of fly-tipping incidents and enforcement actions taken are recorded at local authority level. DEFRA does not hold specific figures for the town of Hemel Hempstead.
	The total figures recorded by the 10 district and borough councils within Hertfordshire for the four years for which data is available are as follows:
	
		
			   Incidents  Prosecutions 
			 2004-05 15,463 36 
			 2005-06 13,344 18 
			 2006-07 12,422 14 
			 2007-08 15,478 17 
		
	
	Prosecution is one of a range of enforcement actions which may be taken by a local authority, including warning letters, serving of statutory notices, fixed penalty notices and formal cautions.

Glass: Recycling

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to increase the amount of glass recycled by restaurants and bars; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: The Government funded Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is working on this issue. WRAP has started a project to measure the volume of glass going into the hospitality sector and the volume being recovered. This project will also identify examples of best practice that can be used to promote glass recycling in the sector. Data on glass being recovered has been estimated from a number of sources, but the early results suggest that less than 20 per cent. of the glass entering the sector is recovered for any form of recycling. The next phase of this project will be to develop a voluntary agreement which asks the sector to commit to glass recycling. This will include discussions with glass processors to ensure that the increased glass tonnage can be diverted back into bottle recycling.

Oil: Waste Disposal

Richard Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 21 October 2008,  Official Report, column 178W, on oils: waste management, what provision there is for clean fuel oil in the Waste Oils Directive; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: The waste oils directive includes a range of provisions which relate to the management of waste oils, including part-processed waste oils which remain a waste. One of the core objectives of the directive is that member states should give priority to the regeneration of waste oil (that is the recycling of waste oil back to lubricant) ahead of the combustion of waste oil for energy recovery. There is no specific mention in the directive of any trade-marked substances such as "Clean Fuel Oil".

Thames Estuary: Environment Protection

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been spent in managing the Thames Estuary in each of the last five years.

Jane Kennedy: The Environment Agency's total expenditure for flood risk management for the Thames Estuary in each of the last five years is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Total 
			 2604-05 17,052,000 
			 2005-06 20,381,000 
			 2006-07 17,831,000 
			 2007-08 17,398,000 
			 2008-09 17,593,600 
		
	
	Total expenditure includes capital and revenue figures. Capital expenditure includes schemes land capital replacement. Revenue expenditure includes operating, maintaining and inspecting structures including the Thames Barrier, Barking Barrier, Dartford Creek Barrier and associated floodgates and floodwalls.
	The geographical area of expenditure is the Thames Estuary from Teddington to Kingsnorth Power Station on the south bank and Teddington to Wakering on the north bank.
	In addition the Environment Agency has a £16 million strategy (Thames Estuary 2100 project) running from 2002 through to 2010 to develop a Thames tidal flood risk management plan up to 2100.

Waste and Resources Action Programme: Marketing

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Waste and Resources Action Programme has spent on external  (a) public relations and  (b) public affairs, in the last 24 months; and for what purpose.

Jane Kennedy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State (Hilary Benn) to the hon. Member for Beckenham (Mrs. Lait) on 9 October 2008,  Official Report, column 745W.

Waste Management

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the volume and proportion of  (a) municipal,  (b) industrial and  (c) total waste that was (i) sent to landfill, (ii) incinerated, (iii) domestically recycled or composted and (iv) exported in each of the last 10 years.

Jane Kennedy: The amount and proportion of municipal waste landfilled, incinerated and recycled/composted from 1996-97 to 2006-07 are shown in Table 1. It is not possible to separately identify municipal waste sent for recycling in this country from that exported for recovery.
	 Waste to landfill
	Total waste to landfill in England from 2000-01 to 2006 is shown in table 2. Industrial waste to landfill is not separately recorded; it is included in the 'household, industrial and commercial' category. Around a quarter of total waste is sent to landfill.
	 Waste incinerated
	Waste inputs received by permitted incinerators, broken down by incinerator type for 2006 and 2007 is shown in table 3. Data is collated according to the type of waste the incinerator is permitted to burn, not the source sector of the waste and therefore, industrial waste cannot be separately identified. The figures include all incineration processes that take waste from off-site sources. It does not include processes that burn their own waste. A small proportion of total waste (around 2 per cent.) is managed by permitted incinerators.
	 Waste recycled/composted
	Estimates for total waste recycled or composted in England in 1998-99, 2002-03, 2004 and 2006 are shown in table 4. Around 19.0 million tonnes of industrial waste were recycled/composted in 1998-99, and 18.7 million tonnes in 2002-03. This breakdown is not available for 2004 or 2006.
	 Waste exported
	Data on shipments of notifiable wastes are collected by Government agencies in the UK to comply with the Basel Convention. Therefore, comprehensive data on shipments of these wastes is currently available. However, these wastes represent a very small (1 per cent.) proportion of total waste movements, and the majority is non-notifiable, or 'green list' waste. While it is not a requirement for the 'green list' forms to be reported to the Environment Agency in England and Wales, movements of 'green list' waste can be estimated from HM Revenue and Customs trade database. However, this data is indicative, since in many cases the categories under which trade data are reported do not differentiate between exported wastes and products. Estimates of non-notifiable waste movements from trade data have only been made for 2006.
	Total waste exported from the UK in 2006 is estimated to have been approximately 13 million tonnes. Of this, around 4.7 million tonnes was exported to within the EU, and 8.4 million tonnes outside the EU. 'Green list' waste accounts for 99 per cent. of waste exports. Estimates by source sector are not available.
	
		
			  Table 1: Management of municipal waste in England, 1996-97 to 2006-07 
			  Thousand tonnes 
			   Landfill  Incinerated  Recycled/composted  Total( 1) 
			 1996-97 20,630 2,207 1,750 24,588 
			 1997-98 21,765 1,846 2,064 25,711 
			 1998-99 21,507 2,296 2,530 26,342 
			 1999-2000 22,199 2,395 3,117 27,715 
			 2000-01 22,039 2,411 3,446 28,057 
			 2001-02 22,421 2,447 3,921 28,905 
			 2002-03 22,068 2,607 4,572 29,394 
			 2003-04 20,936 2,604 5,537 29,114 
			 2004-05 19,822 2,818 6,951 29,619 
			 2005-06 17,873 2,859 7,799 28,726 
			 2006-07 16,890 3,237 8,937 29,187 
		
	
	
		
			  Proportion  (Percentage) 
			   Landfill  Incinerated  Recycled/composted 
			 1996-97 84 9 7 
			 1997-98 85 7 8 
			 1998-99 82 9 10 
			 1999-2000 80 9 11 
			 2000-01 79 9 12 
			 2001-02 78 8 14 
			 2002-03 75 9 16 
			 2003-04 72 9 19 
			 2004-05 67 10 23 
			 2005-06 62 10 27 
			 2006-07 58 11 31 
			 (1) Management methods other than landfill, incineration and recycling/composting have not been included, meaning that the totals will be slightly greater than the sum of the management routes.  Source: Municipal waste management survey 1996-97 to 2003-04, WasteDataFlow from 2004-05. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Landfill deposits in England, 2000-01 to 2006 
			  Million tonnes 
			   2000-01  2002-03  2004-05  2005  2006 
			 Inert/C&D 31.2 31.2 26.8 27.3 27.5 
			 Household, industrial and commercial 45.9 42.6 39.7 39.1 36.5 
			 Hazardous 2.8 2.0 2.4 1.5 0.9 
			 Total 79.9 75.7 68.9 67.9 64.9 
			  Source: Returns made by landfill operators to the Environment Agency. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Incineration throughput in England, 2006 and 2007 
			  Thousand tonnes 
			   2006  2007 
			 Municipal 3,282 3,267 
			 Sewage Sludge 196 191 
			 Hazardous 134 133 
			 Animal By-Product 803 799 
			 Animal Carcass 23 19 
			 Clinical 108 118 
			 Co-Incineration of Hazardous Waste 211 273 
			 Co-Incineration of Non Hazardous Waste 90 336 
			 Total 4,848 5,136 
			  Source: Environment Agency. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 4: Waste recycled/composted in England, 1998-99 to 2006 
			   Waste recycled/composted (Million tonnes)  Proportion of estimated total waste (Percentage) 
			 1998-99 52.2 21 
			 2002-03 80.9 30 
			 2004 96.8 35 
			 2006 112.1 42 
			  Notes: Recycling is defined as the reprocessing in a production process of the waste materials for the original purpose, or for other purposes including organic recycling, but excluding energy recovery. This includes composting and household recycling.  Sources: 1. Estimated from returns made by licensed waste operators to the Environment Agency survey of exempt sites in 2006. 2. National Packaging Waste Database estimates derived from the National Waste Production Survey 2002-03, Surveys of Alternatives to Primary Aggregates, Water UK.

Water Supply

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what responses he has received to his recent consultation on the Private Water Supplies (England) Regulations 2008.

Jane Kennedy: To date 100 representations to the consultation have been received. DEFRA will consider the responses and publish the Government response by spring 2009.

Females: Crimes of Violence

Roger Williams: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many complaints have been made to police forces about violence against women in the last five years, broken down by  (a) parliamentary constituency and  (b) police force.

Maria Eagle: Violence against women includes crimes such as rape, domestic violence, forced marriage, sexual exploitation and trafficking, and I refer my hon. friend to the answer for question 2272115 November 2008,  Official Report, column 556W. The following table provides a breakdown by police force area for recorded offences of rape of a female for the last five years.
	
		
			  Recorded offences of rape of a female: 2003-04 to 2007-08 
			   Number of offences 
			  Police force area  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Avon and Somerset 447 427 295 393 352 
			 Bedfordshire 139 149 188 141 106 
			 British Transport Police 25 39 17 16 14 
			 Cambridgeshire 216 219 193 193 198 
			 Cheshire 172 184 165 150 140 
			 Cleveland 139 135 158 125 130 
			 Cumbria 71 73 73 63 78 
			 Derbyshire 221 257 253 253 217 
			 Devon and Cornwall 303 348 361 355 360 
			 Dorset 137 149 166 115 192 
			 Durham 68 83 129 76 117 
			 Dyfed-Powys 99 94 79 92 66 
			 Essex 316 320 352 324 264 
			 Gloucestershire 97 105 145 150 130 
			 Greater Manchester 790 812 769 767 712 
			 Gwent 77 103 112 132 164 
			 Hampshire 439 573 618 592 549 
			 Hertfordshire 149 179 197 179 163 
			 Humberside 330 286 323 264 237 
			 Kent 268 329 413 368 379 
			 Lancashire 241 249 299 257 232 
			 Leicestershire 238 291 287 275 315 
			 Lincolnshire 156 164 169 147 154 
			 London, City of 3 7 5 8 3 
			 Merseyside 360 342 356 274 231 
			 Metropolitan Police 2,417 2,282 2,249 2,144 1,792 
			 Norfolk 196 170 209 147 128 
			 Northamptonshire 144 116 152 147 138 
			 Northumbria 305 306 325 307 232 
			 North Wales 132 148 156 99 142 
			 North Yorkshire 115 132 134 128 121 
			 Nottinghamshire 273 230 236 223 209 
			 South Wales 177 165 193 240 232 
			 South Yorkshire 170 261 294 241 219 
			 Staffordshire 226 275 267 265 224 
			 Suffolk 166 169 192 161 151 
			 Surrey 138 120 135 134 144 
			 Sussex 276 414 399 413 293 
			 Thames Valley 409 377 425 411 356 
			 Warwickshire 73 83 75 93 96 
			 West Mercia 210 199 212 208 229 
			 West Midlands 747 882 856 834 748 
			 West Yorkshire 572 526 558 579 563 
			 Wiltshire 131 97 138 141 128 
			 England and Wales 12,378 12,869 13,327 12,624 11,648

Court Service: Manpower

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many posts in HM Courts Service there are; and what projection he has made of the number of jobs in the service in 2011.

Bridget Prentice: As at September 2008 there were 19,474 permanent full-time equivalent on strength members of staff employed by Her Majesty's Courts Service (HMCS).
	It has been clear since the publication of MoJ's CSR07 settlement that the Department and its constituent bodies, including HMCS, would have to cut budgets. The efficiency savings plan for MOJ for 2008-09 is currently under way.
	We are working up over the next few months the performance and efficiency plan for MoJ and its constituent bodies, including HMCS, to cover 2009-10 and 2010-11.
	We expect there to be a reduction in headcount in HMCS parts of MoJ but we expect a large part of that to come from reductions in agency staff and contractors. Exact numbers will only be available once we have completed our planning exercise.
	We will aim to match courts work better to the changing pattern of demand and do not have any current plans to close courts.

Courts

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many courts HM Courts Service administers at present; and what projection he has made of the number of courts in operation in 2011.

Bridget Prentice: As at September 2008 Her Majesty's Court Service (HMCS) administers 583 courthouse properties. Local justice areas, county court jurisdiction or Crown court determines where the courts sit, and may provide their court services from one or more court properties within their areas.
	In the normal course of operation HMCS reviews its property base to match court work better to the changing pattern of demand and efficient provision of justice. We do not have any current plans to close courts although a number of courthouses (properties) may be combined as part of these plans.
	There are no property disposals planned over and above that agreed in the CSR07 MoJ Asset Management Strategy These plans form part of the agreed MoJ Asset Management Strategy. For commercial reasons HMCS does not publish details of any proposed changes to individual locations. In any event, any disposals/changes are subject to agreed consultation processes.

Offenders: Drugs

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether a group to compile national guidance on the streamlining and commissioning of drug treatment for offenders has been established.

David Hanson: A group chaired by Professor Lord Patel has been established to consider options for the streamlining of funding and commissioning arrangements for prison drug treatment. I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statements laid jointly with my right hon. Friend the then Minister of State, Department of Health on 17 March 2008,  Official Report, column 49WS and 13 June  Official Report, column 34WS. I intend shortly to make a further written ministerial statement giving an update of progress made.

Prisoners

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what forecasting model his Department uses to prepare the annual prison population projections for England and Wales.

David Hanson: The models used to calculate the current prison population projections are described in Appendix C of the Ministry of Justice publication, "Prison Population Projections 2008-2015", published on the Ministry of Justice website in September 2008. There are four elements to the modelling. In the short term (and the first two years) most segments of the population are modelled by a combination of stock-and-flow modelling and the use of the X12-ARIMA method developed by the USA Census Bureau. The X12-ARIMA method is available at:
	www.census.gov/srd/www/x12a/.
	In the longer term (between two and seven years) most segments of the population use the Grove-Macleod model is used. This has been published in OR Insight Vol. 11 Issue 1, January-March 1998, pp. 3-9, "Forecasting the prison population". More detail is also available in Occasional Paper 80, "Modelling crime and offending: recent developments in England and Wales" published on the Home Office website in 2003. The population on indeterminate sentences are not projected by these methods, and these segments instead use a system dynamics model developed by the Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorder Programme. In addition to these models, the impacts of some changes in legislation and operational procedures are estimated using the Criminal Justice System Model and, if necessary, one-off bespoke calculations.

Cholesterol

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the level of serum cholesterol above which the application of cholesterol-reducing measures among populations at risk of coronary heart disease is cost-effective;
	(2)  what information he has collected for benchmarking purposes on target serum cholesterol levels in  (a) the UK,  (b) other EU member states and  (c) the USA;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the number of heart attacks that might be avoided by treating serum cholesterol down to  (a) current quality and outcomes framework levels and  (b) the suggested JBS2 target levels among at-risk populations; and if he will make a statement.

David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will commission research to establish down to what level of serum cholesterol value for money could be achieved in applying cholesterol-reducing measures among populations at risk of coronary heart disease;
	(2)  what reductions in serum cholesterol in at-risk populations have been achieved in  (a) spearhead primary care trusts (PCTs) and  (b) other PCTs; and what the Government's target reductions are in each case;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the effect on the number of heart attacks that would arise from treating serum cholesterol down to  (a) current quality outcomes framework levels and  (b) the proposed target levels of the Joint British Societies' guidelines on prevention of cardiovascular disease among at-risk populations;
	(4)  what information his Department holds for benchmarking purposes on target serum cholesterol levels in  (a) the UK,  (b) other EU member states and  (c) the USA; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: It is the role of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to set out best practice on standards for treatment and prevention of heart disease.
	In May 2008, NICE published a clinical guideline on lipid modification (managing cholesterol levels) entitled "Cardiovascular risk assessment and the modification of blood lipids for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease".
	NICE guidance is developed using the best available evidence from the scientific community. When reviewing the evidence, NICE ensure that the implementation of any new guidance is cost-effective for the local NHS organisations.
	Around three million people are currently receiving statin therapy to reduce cholesterol levels, saving an estimated 10,000 lives every year, as well as reducing the number of heart attacks.

Departmental Lost Property

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what  (a) equipment and  (b) data was lost by his Department in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department does not differentiate between stolen, missing or lost equipment. The portable equipment lost or stolen for the period April 2007 to March 2008 is as follows:
	
		
			  Items  Total items lost during the year 
			 Mobile phones 21 
			 Pagers 0 
			 Laptops 14 
			 Psions, PalmPilots, Ipaqs, Blackberrys 9 
			 Laptop Projectors 1 
			 Other IT equipment 0 
			 Total losses 45 
		
	
	The Department takes the security and protection of its assets very seriously. Its policy and procedures are constantly reviewed and cases of losses or thefts are investigated. As a further deterrent, the Department marks its portable equipment with an invisible forensic dye called Smartwater. The Department's Security Unit continues to raise security awareness and physical protection of information technology equipment among its staff.
	The Department has recorded one personal data related incident in 2007-08 in its Resource Accounts published on 10 October 2008. This concerned the Medical Training Application Service website where personal details of some junior doctors were erroneously made available as a result of action taken by a third party managing data on the Department's behalf, contrary to the instructions on data handling issued to them by the Department.

Departmental Manpower

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent posts there have been in each of his Department's arm's length bodies in each year since 2003-04; and what the planned staffing numbers for each such body are for each year to 2010-11.

Ben Bradshaw: The whole-time equivalent posts for each of the Department's arms length bodies, for the years 2004-05 to 2008-09, are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Arms length bodies (ALBs) whole time equivalent posts from 2004-05 to 2008-09 
			  ALB  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 Forecast 
			 Healthcare Commission 771 771 889 830 828 
			 Mental Health Act Commission 36 43 42 42 48 
			 Commission for Social Care Inspection 2,622 2,492 2,335 2,098 1,502 
			 Monitor 28 28 28 50 50 
			 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority 106 103 82 82 82 
			 Human Tissue Authority 20 20 42 42 42 
			 Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence 11 11 12 12 15 
			 General Social Care Council(2) 262 264 301 228 252 
			 Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board(1) 36 67 51 50 58 
			 Dental Vocational Training Authority 3 — — — — 
			 Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency(1) 807 827 831 862 943 
			 National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence 230 217 230 233 267 
			 National Patient Safety Agency 306 311 299 294 294 
			 Health Protection Agency(1) 3,214 3,287 3,248 3,394 3,414 
			 National Institute for Biological Standards and Control 308 313 313 312 325 
			 National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse 116 126 166 132 173 
			 Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health 189 118 114 114 0 
			 NHS Blood and Transplant 6,213 6,155 6,110 5,927 5,566 
			 NHS Litigation Authority 166 176 176 176 145 
			 Health and Social Care Information Centre(2) 366 366 354 316 468 
			 NHS Institute for Improvement and Innovation(2) 170 170 175 175 217 
			 NHS Appointments Commission 51 57 42 42 55 
			 NHS Logistics 1,462 1,462 0 — — 
			 NHS Business Services Authority 2,838 3,084 2,722 2,648 2,466 
			 NHS Purchasing and Supplies Agency 356 353 332 332 289 
			 NHS Direct 3,461 3,461 2,227 — — 
			 NHS Professionals 807 742 740 740 393 
			 NHS Estates 412 0 — — — 
			 Totals 25,367 25,024 21,861 19,131 17,892 
			 (1 )Several ALBs undertake trading/income generation activities and increases in headcount reflect increases in activity. (2 )Several ALBs have been given additional areas of responsibility, which has resulted in additional headcount.  Notes: 1. See following table. 2. The ALB Review started in 2004-05 so figures have been provided from that year onwards. Figures for 2003-04 have not been previously collected so will require a significant exercise to obtain and therefore are not available at this moment in time. 3. The planning cycle for 2009-10 and 2010-11 is currently in hand so firm figures are not yet available. 4. For 2004-05 to 2007-08 the figures stated are actuals at the end of the financial year (31 March). For 2008-09 the data shown is the planned figures for 31 March 2009. 
		
	
	 Note  1.
	Connecting for Health is not an arms length body (ALB) but has previously been included in ALB figures so is shown for completeness.
	
		
			   Connecting for Health 
			 2004-05 786 
			 2005-06 605 
			 2006-07 605 
			 2007-08 605 
			 2008-09 forecast 605

Nurses: Ethics

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what guidance  (a) his Department and  (b) the Chief Nursing Officer have issued to primary care trusts on procedures for appointment of nurses to hospital posts with duties including termination of pregnancy since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  whether student nurses are required to undertake duties involving termination of pregnancy as part of their training; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The Department last issued guidance in 1994 in PL CMO(94)8 and PL CNO(94)10 Termination of pregnancy by medical methods: the role of the registered nurse or midwife and others who are not registered medical practitioners'. The document has been placed in the Library. In addition, the Royal College of Nursing issued guidance in October 2008 'Abortion care, RCN guidance for nurses, midwives and specialist community public health nurses'.
	Both documents reaffirm that Section 4 of the Abortion Act 1967 allows nurses to opt out of participating in any treatment for abortion to which they have a conscientious objection. As such, student nurses are not required to undertake termination of pregnancy as part of their training but they are taught theory and implications of the Abortion Act.

Middle East

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of prospects for peace in the middle east; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The Annapolis process has been a first step to restoring trust between the parties. We should seek to build on it to create a process which can deliver a broader peace, in which all exercise their rights and fulfil their responsibilities. This would be a true settlement between Israel and all Arab States. I hope it will be given new momentum from the beginning of the new Administration in the USA.

Colombian Armed Forces

Anne Moffat: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on  (a) accusations against and  (b) suspensions of officers of the Colombian armed forces who have received UK training; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: We have received no information or evidence that officers who have received UK training have been involved in abuses.
	My public statement of 30 October stressed the importance of the Colombian Government's decision to dismiss a number of officers for abuses recently attributed to Colombian Army officers, and for failures in exercising effective command. The resignation of the head of its armed forces is a further notable step.
	It is vital that the Colombian Government remain determined to deal with abuses committed by its armed forces, which have no place in any society.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of acts of terrorism which have been committed by proscribed armed Palestinian groups in  (a) the West Bank and East Jerusalem and  (b) Israel in the last 12 months;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of acts of violence committed by Palestinians against Israeli civilians in  (a) the West Bank and East Jerusalem and  (b) Israel in the last 12 months.

Bill Rammell: The vast majority of attacks against Israeli civilians in the past year have been rocket attacks fired from Gaza at towns in the south of Israel. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has stated that over 1,000 rockets and 1,000 mortars have been fired from Gaza towards Israel since the beginning of 2008. Three Israeli civilians have been killed. We welcome the ceasefire which since June has very significantly reduced the number of these attacks.
	According to the Israeli MFA 14 other Israeli civilians have been killed in attacks by Palestinians in Israel since the beginning of this year. And according to the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) two Israeli civilians have been killed in the west bank and East Jerusalem during 2008.
	We do not hold figures for all acts of violence since reporting is inconsistent. The responsibility for individual attacks is difficult to ascribe because rival groups often claim responsibility for individual attacks. However, we believe that the majority of rocket attacks and attacks on the area surrounding the Gaza Strip during 2008 as well as the suicide attack in Dimona were carried out by Hamas. Other significant organisations thought to have launched rockets are Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has received reports from the Israeli government on acts of terrorism committed by Israeli settlers and settler organisations in  (a) the West Bank and East Jerusalem and  (b) Israel in the last 12 months.

Bill Rammell: We have received no such direct reports from the Israeli government. However we are deeply concerned at the rising number of violent attacks—principally against Palestinian civilians but also against Israeli military personnel—carried out by Israelis living in illegal settlements. These include reports of rocket attacks against Palestinian villages. The Israeli government, including the Prime Minister, has condemned the violence carried out by the settlers. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary raised this with Defence Minister, Ehud Barak, on 20 October.

Sudan: Peace Negotiations

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the government of Sudan on progress towards the disarmament of militia and other government-affiliated forces in Darfur; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Government of Sudan committed under the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) in 2005 to disarm militia and other government-affiliated forces in Darfur. Not all parties to the conflict signed the DPA and due to the ongoing conflict the DPA has not been fully implemented. We are pressing the Government of Sudan to uphold their commitments under the DPA and to engage fully in the ongoing Darfur peace process. On 27 September, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary met Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha in New York to discuss the Darfur peace process, to urge progress on co-operation with the International Criminal Court, and allow the full deployment of the UN-African Union Peacekeeping Mission (UNAMID) for full humanitarian access, and to work for wider political reform in Sudan, including free and fair elections in 2009.

Sudan: War Crimes

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the government of Sudan on the arrest of Ali Kushayb; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: We are aware of reports that Ali Kushayb has been arrested in Sudan and could be tried by the Government of Sudan. We continue to call on the Government of Sudan to co-operate folly with the International Criminal Court over the two existing arrest warrants, which includes one for Kushayb. We hope Kushayb's arrest is a step towards this. There can be no impunity for crimes committed in Darfur.

USA: Capital Punishment

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will inform the incoming President of the United States of the Government's opposition to the death penalty.

Bill Rammell: The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances, and the US is aware of our stance. The UK raises our opposition to the death penalty in the US with the appropriate authorities in both bilateral dialogue and through the EU. We will continue this policy with any future administrations until the practice of capital punishment is abolished throughout the United States of America.

Children in Care: Crime

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps he has taken to assist local authorities in preventing children in their care becoming involved in crime.

Beverley Hughes: The vast majority of looked after children do not commit offences. However we recognise that as a group they are more likely to be subject to a final reprimand or warning or convicted of a crime than other children. To support local authorities as responsible corporate parents to do all they can to prevent looked after children becoming involved in crime, we have issued a range of materials. In 2005 Government funded the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO) to produce a handbook for local authorities on reducing offending by looked after children with practical examples setting out how authorities might work with partner agencies to reduce offending by looked after children. We also supported the National Children's Bureau to research and publish "Tell Them Not to Forget About Us"—a guide to practice with looked after children in custody. A copy of this was sent to every director of Children's Services and to every youth offending team manager.
	Following our White Paper "Care Matters" and the Children and Young Persons Bill receiving Royal Assent, we will be revising guidance to local authorities which will include information about local authority responsibilities for preventing offending by looked after children and, about their responsibilities for establishing the necessary relationships with youth justice professionals so that, when looked after children do offend, plans are put in place to support the child to prevent re-offending.

Children: Databases

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2008,  Official Report, column 482W, on children: databases, whether details of children of hon. Members are to be  (a) excluded from and  (b) shielded on Contact Point; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: The Children Act 2004 Information Database (England) Regulations 2007 specify that Contact Point will hold basic identifying information on every child and each 'participating young person', ordinarily resident in England.
	Records of some children, whose circumstances may mean that they, or others, are at increased risk of harm (for example, those fleeing domestic violence), may be subject to 'shielding', whereby any details which could give an indication of their whereabouts, will be hidden from users' view. The decision to shield will be taken on a case-by-case basis and will be based on the level of threat posed if their whereabouts were to become known. Such a decision can only be undertaken by a local authority which is under a duty to consider the views of the person to whom the record relates, the views of their parent or carer, and of any schedule 4 or schedule 5 body (as specified by the Children Act 2004 Information Database (England) Regulations 2007), involved with the child or young person.

Departmental Conditions of Employment

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of employees in his Department  (a) are on a flexible working contract,  (b) are on a job share employment contract and  (c) work from home for more than four hours a week.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: In the Department any member of staff can request a change to their working pattern and line managers consider requests in line with the Department's policy and guidance.
	Staff below the senior civil service (96 per cent.) can work to a flexi-time agreement and local records are kept of hours worked.
	15 per cent. of all staff works part-time but information is not held centrally on how many job share and information could be obtained at disproportionate cost.
	There are currently five employees who have a formal home-working contract and work more than four hours a week from home. Over 60 per cent. of employees do have broadband access to the Department's systems through authorised encryption and agree home working arrangements with their line managers. Records of the hours worked each week are held locally and could be aggregated only at disproportionate cost.

Parents: Advisory Services

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many calls there have been to the Parent Know-How helpline in each month since it was established; what the cost of the helpline has been; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: The Parent Know How programme is funding seven third sector organisations to deliver helplines for parents. The funding for these helplines commenced on 1 April 2008. Management data, including the number of calls taken by the helplines, are collected quarterly. In the first quarter (April to June) 34,936 calls were taken, in the second quarter (July to September) 31,399 calls were taken. The third sector organisations are funded by grants to deliver the helpline services. The total cost in 2008-09 is £3.4 million.

Teachers: Training

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what his Department's targets for the number of people entering initial teacher training for each subject by  (a) undergraduate,  (b) post-graduate certificate of education and  (c) other graduate teacher training routes were in each of the last five years.

Jim Knight: The following table shows the targets set for recruitment to mainstream Initial Teacher Training (ITT) for primary courses and secondary courses by subject for each academic year between 2004/05 and 2008/09. The Department does not set targets for each route into ITT.
	Only the 2008/09 targets include Employment Based Routes Initial Teacher Training (EBITT) courses. Prior to 2008/09 the Department did not set targets for EBITT, although recruitment data for EBITT courses was still taken into account in projecting the future required numbers of recruits and successful completers on each type of programme and by subject to assist in determining the targets required for mainstream ITT targets.
	
		
			  Initial teacher training places( 1) ,  academic years: 2004/05 to 2008/09 ,  coverage: England 
			   2004/05  2005/06  2006/07  2007/08  2008/09 
			 Primary 16,300 15,800 15,300 14,800 17,460 
			   
			 Secondary(1) 19,500 18,500 17,500 16,500 19,385 
			  O f which:  
			 Art 880 800 700 600 670 
			 Citizenship 250 240 230 220 265 
			 Economics, Social Sciences, Classics. Other subjects 300 290 240 185 325 
			 English (including Drama) 2,350 2,200 2,040 1,920 2,670 
			 Geography 935 925 850 770 770 
			 History 910 810 700 600 685 
			 Mathematics 2,350 2,350 2,350 2,350 2,735 
			 Modern foreign languages 2,050 1,900 1,790 1,670 1,670 
			 Music 725 690 640 600 690 
			 Physical Education 1,500 1,450 1,310 1,180 1,570 
			 Religious Education 730 730 695 665 740 
			 Science 3,225 3,225 3,225 3,225 3,615 
			 Technology, of which: 2,895 2,890 2,730 2,515 2,980 
			 Business Studies 760 730 680 600 590 
			 Design and Technology 1,085 1,060 1,010 930 1,195 
			 Information and communications technology 1,050 1,100 1,040 985 1,195 
			 Vocational subjects(2) 400 — — — — 
			 Margin of flexibility/secondary reserve(3) — — — — — 
			   
			 Primary and secondary 35,800 34,300 32,800 31,300 36,845 
			 (1) Targets prior to 2008/09 include School Centred ITT but excludes Employment Based Routes ITT (EBITT). Targets for 2008/08 onwards include EBITT, but exclude Teach First. (2) Places for vocational subjects in 2006707 are included with the allocation for related academic subject: Science includes places for applied science, design and technology includes both manufacturing and engineering, ICT includes applied ICT, business studies includes applied business, geography includes leisure and tourism, art includes applied art and other subjects includes health and social care and subjects relating to the new diploma subjects. In 2004/05 places for vocational subjects were shown separately. In 2003/04 the margin of flexibility included places for a vocational subjects pilot. (3) The margin of flexibility/secondary reserve constituted places that the TDA could allocate to any secondary subject, to support providers whose baselines would otherwise be below economic levels: to ensure the appropriate denominational balance; and to help providers with a high proportion of places in shortage subjects and who therefore had particular uncertainty of income.  Source: OGSF 
		
	
	This data was published as part of the Statistical First Release: School Workforce in England (29/2007) and is available at:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000743/index.shtml

Young Offenders: Education

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what educational provision is in force for young people under 18 years remanded in custody at young offender institutions prior to court disposal.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 10 November 2008
	Education, training and personal development activities for all young people in custody are delivered as part of a package of placement services funded by the Youth Justice Board (YJB) and prescribed by a joint YJB/DCSF/MOJ/Learning and Skills Council specification The Offender Learning Journey for Juveniles'. All young people in custody should receive full-time education and personal development activities, which are based on the national curriculum but with flexibilities to take account of prior learning and other needs such as substance misuse, and behaviour management needs etc which young people may have. The YJB sets requirements for education in Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) and require that 90 per cent. of young people receive 25 hours or more education, training and personal development activity per week.

Young People: Unemployment

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many young people were not in education, employment or training in Enfield North constituency  (a) in 1997 and  (b) at the latest date for which figures are available.

Beverley Hughes: The Department publishes annual estimates of the number of 16 to 18-year-olds not in education, employment or training (NEET) in England. These estimates cannot be disaggregated to local authority or constituency level.
	However, we can use information collected by the Connexions Service to estimate the number and proportion of young people NEET at local authority level. The 2007 estimate for the London borough of Enfield is that 670 16 to 18-year-olds were NEET (7.2 per cent. of the 16 to 18-year-old population). The first local authority level data was made available in 2005, when an estimated 840 16 to 18-year-olds were NEET (8.3 per cent. of the 16 to 18-year-old population). Constituency level data is not available.

Maritime and Aviation Intelligence Team

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the Answer of 19 March 2007,  Official Report, column 706W, on customs: manpower, what assessment he has now made of the effect on  (a) detection rates and  (b) other measures in relation to illegal imports of persons and goods of the disbanding of the Maritime and Aviation Intelligence Team.

Stephen Timms: The former Paymaster General's earlier answer still applies in respect of the re-organisation of the former Maritime and Aviation Intelligence Teams (MAIT). The intelligence activity is driven by national hubs of expertise together with target and selection teams, which link into operational teams, resulting in detection activity across the whole of the UK. In addition the Government have created the United Kingdom Border Agency, which is now responsible for all cross border matters including those that were formally the responsibility of MAIT; putting these dual responsibilities under one frontier facing Law Enforcement Agency. HM Revenue and Customs is working closely with the shadow UKBA in building its Border focused intelligence capability.

Public Buildings: Empty Property

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge of 15 September 2008,  Official Report, column 2155W, on public buildings: empty property, what the  (a) address,  (b) occupying organisation and  (c) floor area of each part of the Government civil estate that is currently occupied.

Angela Eagle: The civil estate is defined as:
	"the workspace, offices and other property (land and buildings) used to deliver departments' activities that is owned, leased, or occupied by a government body including non-ministerial departments, agencies, executive NDPBs and Special Health Authorities in Great Britain. It does not include the operational NHS Estate, the Prisons Operational Estate, the Foreign Office Overseas Estate, the Defra Rural Estate, the privatised rail entities, public corporations or the defence estate (except for certain civil elements)."
	The information requested has been placed in the Libraries using the aforementioned definition and applies only to occupations of English Departments, agencies and non-departmental public bodies. It excludes information on all but the headquarters properties occupied by the security services.

Public Buildings: Empty Property

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge of 15 September 2008,  Official Report, columns 2155W, on public buildings: empty property, if he will publish the latest list of actual vacant space by  (a) floor area,  (b) occupying organisation and  (c) location which was used to calculate the 1.43 per cent. figure.

Angela Eagle: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries.

Smuggling: Tobacco

Michael Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment HM Revenue and Customs has made of the correlation between levels of use of hand rolling tobacco in the UK and the amount of hand-rolling tobacco illegally smuggled into the UK.

Angela Eagle: HMRC has made no assessment of the correlation between levels of use of hand rolling tobacco in the UK and the amount of hand rolling tobacco illegally smuggled into the UK.
	Estimates for the total amount of hand rolling tobacco used in the UK and the amount of hand rolling tobacco illicitly smuggled into the UK are estimated separately for the years 2001-02 to 2005-06 and are reported in "Measuring Indirect Tax Losses—2007" published by HMRC in October 2007, which is available in the House of Commons Library.

BBC: Public Service Broadcasting

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions he has had on the BBC's compliance with its public service broadcasting obligations in the last seven days.

Andy Burnham: On 29 October, Sir Michael Lyons telephoned to brief me on the BBC Trust's response to the editorial breaches in the Russell Brand Show. On 5 November, I had a scheduled meeting with Mark Thompson, in which we discussed the same issue.

Higher Education: Business

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps the Government has taken to strengthen the links between higher education institutions and the economy in their local areas.

David Lammy: The Government are supporting HEFCE's development of a programme of activities that will help Higher Education Institution's (HEIs) meet the high level skills needs of the economy, with a focus on enhancing the role of HE institutions in work force development. In particular, the 2008 HEFCE Grant letter allocated over £100 million of new resources over the spending review period to support new co-funded entrants, infrastructure development and wider employer engagement activity within HEIs. This will help HEIs make real progress in responding to the skills needs of employers and their staff and form a sustainable knowledge economy in which higher learning informs and improves economic performance.
	The Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) gives every English HEI funding to build its capacity to work with business. This fund will reach £150 million per annum by the end of the spending review period. In their HEIF strategies, 83 per cent. of institutions said that small and medium enterprises were a target, and 85 per cent. were targeting knowledge exchange activity within the region.
	During 2008-11 the Technology Strategy Board will co-ordinate a £1 billion programme in partnership with Research Councils and the Regional Development Agencies with a key aim of helping businesses to access the research base. In addition, RDAs will provide Innovation Vouchers to at least 500 businesses as a means for smaller firms to collaborate with knowledge institutions to help those firms boost their innovation.

Higher Education: Finance

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps the Government has taken to ensure the funding formula of the Higher Education Funding Council for England is equitable for all higher education institutions.

David Lammy: The Government issue strategic direction from time to time to the Funding Council on the objectives to be achieved through its funding of institutions. We do this most notably in the annual grant letter to the Council determining priorities for the year ahead.

Higher Education: Research

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what recent steps the Government has taken to improve standards in research at UK universities.

David Lammy: This Government are committed to maintaining the UK's world class university system and have already taken significant and recent steps to sustain the excellence of the UK research base and improve the exploitation of knowledge. The decline in public investment in science during the 1980s and early 1990s has been reversed. Since 1997, the ring-fenced science budget has more than doubled and by the end of the spending review period research funding from the Department for Innovation Universities and Skills will reach almost £6 billion per annum. The Government have addressed the backlog of underinvestment in research infrastructure through a combination of capital funding and a move towards funding the full economic cost of research.
	The dual support funding system for research has a strong incentive effect. The combination of the research assessment exercise, which informs the HEFCE quality related block grant, and the Research Councils' competitive allocation of funding through peer review has driven up the quality of research. The combination has been extremely successful over the last decade and the UK ranks second only to the USA in the world for research excellence overall.

Higher Education: Research

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps the Government plans to take to improve the standards of research in UK higher education institutions.

David Lammy: The dual support funding system for research creates strong incentives for institutions to drive up the quality of their research. The Higher Education Funding Council is currently working on plans for the research excellence framework, which aims to promote excellent research while reducing the administrative burden of assessing it.

Children: Maintenance

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Colchester of 20 October 2008,  Official Report, column 17, if he will bring forward proposals to change the basis of assessment of non-resident parents' incomes in respect of deductions allowed for company cars.

Kitty Ussher: holding answer 4 November 2008
	 There are no plans to amend legislation in this respect.

Debts

John Battle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when the Ministerial Group on Over Indebtedness last met; when the next meeting will be held; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: The Government take the issue of over-indebtedness extremely seriously. Ministerial discussions of credit and debt issues are taking place in many forums such as the National Economic Council and the cross-Government work on the housing market, including the mortgage rescue scheme.
	The Ministerial Group on Over-indebtedness agreed the Government's strategy on over-indebtedness in 2004. It provides direction and approval of the Government's annual report, 'Tackling Over-indebtedness', that has been issued since 2005. The group has found it effective to conduct its business by paper rather than physically meeting.

Departmental Internet

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many page hits from how many visitors the Departmental website received in the 2007-08 financial year.

Patrick McFadden: In the 2007-08 financial year, www.berr.gov.uk received 34,781,332 page views from 6,589,815 unique visitors.

Departmental Older Workers

David Simpson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many people aged over  (a) 55 and  (b) 60 years of age were recruited by his Department in 2007-08; and what percentage in each case this was of the number of new recruits.

Patrick McFadden: The number of people who were recruited into BERR from its creation in June 2007 to 24 October 2008 is as follows:
	Number of entrants aged over 55 = 122;
	Number of entrants aged over 60 = 15.
	These represent people recruited through external recruitment campaigns, other Government Department transfers, secondments, loans and Machinery of Government changes.
	The percentage represented by direct entrants through external recruitment campaigns is as follows:
	Number of new recruits aged over 55 = 4 per cent. (five);
	Number of new recruits aged over 60 = 6.6 per cent. (1).

Departmental Training

Greg Hands: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what personal training courses at public expense he has undertaken since his appointment.

Patrick McFadden: My noble Friend the Secretary of State has had some training on how to use one of the blackberry devices issued by the Department.

New Businesses: Greater London

Paul Burstow: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many new businesses were started in each London borough in 2007; how many of them received Government funding during that year; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: The latest available figures for new businesses are for 2006 (based on businesses with turnover over £60,000 registering for VAT). The figure for each London borough was as follows:
	
		
			  VAT registrations in London and in each London borough, 2006 
			   Number of new businesses 
			 London Government Office Region 34,825 
			 Barking and Dagenham 370 
			 Barnet 1,490 
			 Bexley 560 
			 Brent 1,135 
			 Bromley 1,015 
			 Camden 1,925 
			 City of London 1,385 
			 Croydon 960 
			 Ealing 1,350 
			 Enfield 865 
			 Greenwich 600 
			 Hackney 990 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 1,000 
			 Haringey 790 
			 Harrow 835 
			 Havering 635 
			 Hillingdon 845 
			 Hounslow 900 
			 Islington 1,345 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 1,205 
			 Kingston upon Thames 585 
			 Lambeth 985 
			 Lewisham 635 
			 Merton 830 
			 Newham 620 
			 Redbridge 830 
			 Richmond upon Thames 1,000 
			 Southwark 1,090 
			 Sutton 525 
			 Tower Hamlets 1,180 
			 Waltham Forest 615 
			 Wandsworth 1,370 
			 Westminster 4,375 
		
	
	The Government supports new businesses in the capital in the main through the London Development Agency (LDA). In 2007, the LDA provided support estimated at over £6.2 million to more than 1,500 new businesses in the form of direct finance, subsidised financial and other support or advice.

UK Trade and Investment: Public Appointments

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform who sits on the UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation's  (a) Defence Advisory Group and  (b) Security Advisory Group; what companies or interests each represent; and how long their appointments last.

Gareth Thomas: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 6 October 2008,  Official Report, column 293W.
	Sir Kevin Tebbit, chairman of Finmeccanica UK, has now been formally selected as chairman of the Defence Advisory Group and will serve for three years. The process to select a chairman of the Security Sector Advisory Group has begun. 13 members have been selected, on the basis of the expertise that they personally bring to speak with authority and experience of security exports, and they will serve for two years as do members of other UKTI advisory groups. Information on individual members of the security group is considered to be personal information, and is withheld for that reason.

Parliamentary Resources Unit

Francis Maude: To ask the Leader of the House pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Bassetlaw, of 13 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 846-47W, on the Parliamentary Resources Unit, how much has been paid to  (a) the Parliamentary Labour Party and  (b) Computing for Labour, through the Department of Resources and its predecessors in each year since 2003-04.

Chris Bryant: From November 2007 a total of £15,681.25 has been paid to the parliamentary Labour party from parliamentary allowances for the messaging service provided for Members by Vodafone:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2007-08 10,700.25 
			 2008-09 (to date) 4,981.00 
		
	
	The amounts paid to Computing for Labour as subscriptions for software that is used for responding to constituents' correspondence and other constituency casework for each year since 2003-04 are as follows:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2005-06 897,427 
			 2006-07 974,161 
			 2007-08 1,087,530 
			 2008-09 (to date) 743,412 
		
	
	Figures for 2003-04 and 2004-05 are not available.

British Energy

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate he has made of the value of the Government's holdings in British Energy.

Mike O'Brien: In the context of EDF's proposed takeover of British Energy (BE), HMG has given an irrevocable commitment to sell its stake in BE at the cash offer price of 774p per share, which would raise £4.4 billion for the Nuclear Liabilities Fund. HMG considers the offer price to be value for money for its stake.

Departmental Liability

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on what dates his Department has informed the House of the creation of contingent liabilities relating to his Department or its non-departmental public bodies.

Mike O'Brien: The Secretary of State has not informed the House of any such liabilities since 3 October. As part of the separation of DECC from BERR and Defra, the Department will be considering what contingent liabilities may exist, and will reflect these in the resource accounts where appropriate.

Electricity Generation

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the average cost of generating 2MW of power by  (a) nuclear generation,  (b) coal-fired generation,  (c) gas-fired generation and  (d) wind generation.

Mike O'Brien: The generation cost of different technologies are measured in terms of levelised costs and are presented on a £ per megawatt hour basis. The Government have carried out analysis on generation costs in some detail in recent years to inform policy decisions. These estimates have been published as part of the Energy Review (2006) and Nuclear White paper (2008). Latest updates to those estimates suggest the following costs associated with generating 1 MWh of electricity, assuming a €35/tCO2 price for carbon:
	
		
			   £/MWh 
			 Gas fired generation 52 
			 Coal—fired generation 51 
			 Nuclear generation 38 
			 Wind (onshore) 72 
			 Wind (offshore) 92 
		
	
	It should be noted that the estimates of levelised costs for different types of electricity generation are highly sensitive to the assumptions used for capital costs, fuel and EU ETS allowance prices, operating costs, load factor, and other drivers. The numbers quoted in the table represent levelised costs estimated as part of the Energy White Paper exercise, updated for fossil fuel prices used in the Government's analysis underpinning the Renewable Energy Strategy. In reality, there are large uncertainties and ranges around these figures.

Energy Supply: Meters

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what evidence his Department has received on the economic case for the roll-out of smart meters to domestic properties; and on what basis the Government has made the assessment that the case is questionable.

Mike O'Brien: BERR held a consultation on energy billing and metering in August 2007:
	www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/energy/whitepaper/consultations/billing-metering/page40854.html
	Among other things, this sought views on the Government's expectation that smart meters would be provided to all business and domestic customers over the next decade. Around 100 responses were received from a wide variety of stakeholders. The responses can be viewed at:
	www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/energy/whitepaper/consultations/billingmetering/consultationresponses/page43790.html.
	BERR also commissioned an independent appraisal of the costs and benefits of smart meter options which is available at:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file45997.pdf.
	In April 2008 the Government published its response to the consultation:
	www.berr.gov.uk/files/file45996.pdf
	together with a consultation impact assessment on roll-out of smart meters to all domestic consumers:
	www.berr.gov.uk/files/file45794.pdf
	The latter, in the case of central estimates, did not indicate a positive case for roll-out. However, there was considerable uncertainty about the costs and benefits, so the Government response invited views on the impact assessment and set out a programme of work leading to a decision point later in 2008. Throughout this period, BERR officials worked closely with stakeholders to develop the overall evidence base and commissioned two independent consultancy studies to review some of the numbers and assumptions in the April 2008 impact assessment.
	Although the detail of the impact assessment has not yet been finalised, work in progress suggests that, under central scenarios, there is now a positive, high level case for a domestic roll-out of smart meters. The Government therefore announced on 28 October 2008,  Official Report ,  House of Lords, column 1515, their plans to roll-out smart meters to all domestic customers ,. The final impact assessment will be published soon.

Energy Supply: Meters

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 27 October 2008,  Official Report, column 731-4W on energy: metering, if he will publish the economic impact assessment to which reference is made.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 3 November 2008
	 The economic impact assessment referred to was published in April 2008 and is available at
	www.berr.gov.uk/files/file45794.pdf.
	Since the answer referred to in the question, the Government have announced their plans to roll-out smart meters to all domestic customers—28 October 2008,  Official Report, House of Lords, column 1515.

Home Energy Efficiency Scheme

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much EAGA made from charging installers of energy saving equipment which was purchased using Warm Front vouchers in each of the last five years.

Joan Ruddock: The £300 rebate scheme began in 2006. Eaga plc met the costs relating to the development and introduction of this initiative. For each voucher redeemed, the Department agreed that Eaga would receive a £42.55 administration fee. This fee is paid for by each installer registered on the scheme and contributes to ongoing administration, IT and management costs. The following table illustrates the number of vouchers redeemed, by the scheme year and the totalled administration fees recovered, since this time.
	
		
			  Scheme year  Redeemed vouchers  Recovered admin fee (£) 
			 2006-07 1,977 84,121.35 
			 2007-08 64,702 2,753,070.10 
			 2008-09 46,531 1,979,894.05 
			 Total 113,210 4,817,085.50 
		
	
	It is important to note that, once a contractor is registered on the £300 scheme, they benefit from a Government backed administrative process guaranteeing promotion of their services. This improves their respectability, reduces advertising costs and guarantees work they would not necessarily have otherwise received.

Home Energy Efficiency Scheme

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether EAGA is permitted to sell Carbon Emissions Reduction Target credits to energy companies in cases where those credits arise from Warm Front grant-aided energy saving installations.

Joan Ruddock: Yes, Eaga is permitted to sell carbon credits derived from measures undertaken through the Warm Front scheme. Funding generated through this process supplements the Warm Front budget.

Insulation: Grants

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many pensioner households in York have received grants or other assistance to improve their home insulation in each year since 1996-97; and how much public money was spent on this in each such year.

Joan Ruddock: The following table illustrates the number of pensioner households assisted by the Warm Front Scheme in the City of York and Vale of York constituencies between 1 June 2005 and 30 September 2008. (Prior to this period the scheme was administered by a different agency and the data held by the current administrator is not sufficient to provide an accurate response to the question.)
	
		
			  Scheme year  Number of pensioner households assisted  Associate cost (£) 
			 2005-06 261 181,193 
			 2006-07 684 625,807 
			 2007-08 747 898,336 
			 2008-09 (to date) 279 545,445 
			 Total 1,971 2,250,781 
		
	
	Since 2002, pensioners in Great Britain have also benefited from subsidised and free insulation measures, including loft and cavity wall insulation, under the supplier-funded Energy Efficiency Commitment (EEC). During the period 2002 to 2008, 5 million households received insulation measures through the EEC. Suppliers were required to focus 50 per cent. of their efforts on a priority group of vulnerable and low-income households, including pensioners on qualifying benefits. However, suppliers were not required to provide a precise break-down of the types of households within the priority group that receive assistance, or geographical information as to where measures were installed.
	The current phase of the Energy Efficiency Commitment, now known as the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target, operates in similar terms to the EEC. However, supplier activity levels are more than double that of the EEC and will benefit some 6 million households by 2011. 40 per cent. of these will be from the priority group, which how includes all pensioners over 70.

Plutonium

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans he has to meet the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to discuss the next steps in the plutonium management strategy.

Mike O'Brien: A date is not fixed yet but I hope to meet with the NDA in the coming weeks. However my officials are working closely with them on this matter.